Lacrosse Headline

Thursday May 24, 2012A Berth in National Championship  and a Second Chance  on Gators' Mind in Rematch with Syracuse

STONY
BROOK, N.Y. – As she walked off the field at Don
Dizney Stadium on March 3, Gators junior attacker Kitty Cullen's position fit
her mood perfectly.

Cullen
looked as if she could attack someone with the lacrosse stick she dangled by
her side on the long walk back toward Florida's locker room. In the last game
the Gators lost – a 12-11 double-overtime loss to Syracuse that lasted
more than two and a half hours – Cullen went home mad.

"I
remember being really upset after the game,'' she said.

Cullen
had her reasons. For one, the Gators lost at home, a rarity in the young
program's brief history. They took 39 shots to Syracuse's 26 – and lost.
They owned advantages in both ground balls and draw controls – and lost.

A
fierce competitor and a team leader, Cullen wasn't too pleased with her
performance either, finding the net just once on 10 shots.

"We
could not shoot at all,'' Cullen said Thursday on the eve of a rematch with
Syracuse in the NCAA semifinals. "It was just such a bad game for us. I
think [Friday] night that Syracuse is going to be seeing a completely different
team."

With a
berth in Sunday's national championship at stake, the Gators and Orange square
off again Friday here at LaValle Stadium on the campus of Stony Brook
University.

The
Gators enter on a school-record 15-game win streak that includes a pair of wins
over defending national champion Northwestern, which plays Maryland in the
other semifinal on Friday. The Gators are not just winning, but they have often
been dominant, outscoring opponents 227-88 during the win streak.

Shooting
has rarely been a problem in the two months since they misfired against
Syracuse.

"We
had to make some adjustments offensively after that game,'' Florida coach
Amanda O'Leary said. "We made some adjustments defensively as well. They
certainly tested us at both ends of the field."

The
Gators advanced to the Final Four with a 15-2 win over Penn State; Syracuse
earned its third Final Four berth in five seasons with a 17-16 win over North
Carolina.

Their
first meeting was a seesaw affair that ended when Syracuse's Bridget Daly won
the opening draw in the second overtime and Katie Webster scored the
game-winner 55 seconds later.

With
the rematch looming, Florida is banking on some of the offensive tweaks it made
after the first game – more of freshman draw-specialist Shannon Gilroy as
an offensive threat perhaps topping the list – to help get past the
Orange.

Gilroy
has been superb in the postseason, scoring 11 of the Gators' 35 goals in the
last three games.

"Shannon
is a huge offensive threat,'' Cullen said. "She is going to be helping a
lot in this game."

O'Leary
agreed that Gilroy's emergence has added another element to Florida's attack.

"I
think Shannon is a tremendous asset to our program,'' O'Leary said. "I
think we are peaking offensively. I'm not sure we would even be close to being
where we are without her at this point."

The
Gators gathered Monday to watch Syracuse's dramatic win over North Carolina.
The Orange's Michele Tumolo scored the game-winner with five seconds remaining.

Syracuse
coach Gary Gait's club does have one advantage it didn't have in the first game
against Florida: freshman attacker Kailah Kempney, a draw specialist expected
to challenge Gilroy for some of those 50-50 balls.

Gait
knows the Orange need to be at their best since the Gators clearly are.

"I
think Florida has got it and they figured it out, and theyve had the big wins
against Northwestern that propelled them into that mental state of mind that
preps them to play,'' Gait said. "Theyre incredibly deep in every
position. I think that thats what makes them so strong is they have talent
everywhere, throw in a couple of freshmen which are top players in the country,
and you know they just become stronger."

The
Gators are the No. 1 seed. They are admittedly playing their best of the
season. And they have all their key players healthy.

Those
factors combined offer reasons to be confident. But there's also that memory of
the loss to Syracuse earlier. That's a feeling Cullen doesn't want to
experience again.

"You
never want to lose to the same team twice in a season,'' Cullen said. "I
definitely think everyone wants a little revenge."

NEED TO KNOW: Florida is trying
to make it to the NCAA Championship Game in only its third season ... The
winner faces the Northwestern-Maryland winner on Saturday for the national
title ... Syracuse ranks fifth in country in points (453) and scoring average
(15 goals per game) ... Syracuse's Alyssa Murray ranks second in nation in
goals (70) and third in points (100) ... The UF-Syracuse all-time series is
tied 1-1 ... Florida beat Syracuse 16-11 on March 19, 2011 ... Florida leads
the country in scoring defense -- 6.19 goals allowed per game ... Florida
features six players who have scored 39 or more goals: Gabi Wiegand (46), Kitty
Cullen (45), Ashley Bruns (43), Brittany Dashiell (40), Nora Barry (39) and
Shannon Gilroy (39) ... ESPN's Joe Beninati (play-by-play) and Courtney
Martinez Connor (analyst) are calling the game; Martinez Connor is the daughter
of former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Tippy Martinez.